'I've done this hundreds of times - but this time I was left paralysed'
manchestereveningnews.co.ukA man was left paralysed from the neck down after a freak accident during a cold water sea dip. Dan Richards, a keen surfer, had been swimming in the sea hundreds of times - during all seasons.
But on New Year's Eve, during a dip at Langland Bay in Swansea with his partner Anna Thomas, her mum Jayne Trew and friend Sharon Nicholson, Dan broke his neck as he dived into the water, Wales Online reports.
As he dived, the 35-year-old hit a wave which caused his body to rotate and the back of his head to hit the sand. Unable to feel his arms or legs and in a state of shock still in the water, Dan focused on holding his breath. Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link. The gas engineer was then able to call out for help as he slowly lifted his head out of the water.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Dan, dad to three-year-old Hailey, said: "I was probably thigh deep in the water, just wading, and a wave was coming in, so the plan was to shallow dive into the base of the wave and come up the other side as normal, but as I've got into the wave, it has rotated me, and the back of my head hit the sand. "With my momentum going forward and the weight of the wave, it broke my neck, it was that easy, that quick.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk